Major Monday: Athletic Training

If you’ve been playing or interested in sports for all of your young life, you may want to continue your involvement with them. A career in Athletic training, whether at the high school or college level, allows you to interact with athletes on various teams and levels.

EducationAccording to The College Board, this major is complete with a Bachelor’s degree. You may start your athletic training career upon passing the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Board of Certification (BOC) exam, the entry-level standard for athletic trainers. Exercise physiology, human anatomy, nutrition and strength and reconditioning are typical courses within this college major. You will learn about parts of the body and how they work so that you can assess injuries of athletes by touch.

What to know before you applyIt’s important to see if the colleges you’re looking at are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education. Athletic training programs involve a lot of clinical experience, so you will want to find out what setting the clinical rotations are completed in. It’s also important to inquire about the success of past and present students, and ask what percentage of students pass the BOC.

SalaryA major in athletic training most often leads to becoming an athletic trainer, but careers as fitness trainers or aerobics instructors are also common. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics athletic trainers made an average salary of $44,640 in 2011. Fitness trainers and aerobics instructors earned an average of $36,150.